By Hayden Swope
Hanover’s Rieken Stallbaumer has been training for the season all summer, spending countless hours at the field. Last season, Stallbaumer was a second team all-league athlete for the Wildcats.
“I’ve been preparing for the season by attending team camps, weights, and conditioning sessions and participating in seven on seven drills,” Stallbaumer said. “My personal weakness is speed and I focused on improving that the most.”
Stallbaumer’s key to success is making sure to improve as an athlete and as a team day by day, and he hopes to take in all of the lessons before the end of the season.
“While everyone’s goal is to make it to state, my priority is to improve every day and not take anything for granted,” Stallbaumer said. “We approach it week by week aiming to position ourselves for success.”
Stallbaumer knows a lot about the varsity game, as he’s filled in and played minutes since the beginning. Stallbaumer is excited to see where those years of experience lead him this season.
“What excites me the most about the season is seeing how much we’ve grown as a team,” Stallbaumer said. “Due to some injuries I’ve seen the field a couple times since freshman year. It’s incredible to see our development since then. Success requires us to be fully committed to our program and highly coachable.”
After high school, Stallbaumer will further his education in Nebraska.
“My future plans include attending Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska to major in automotive technology,” Stallbaumer said.
